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INDIAN OPINION
November 20th, I925
Petition, Submitted to Union
\
Government by
South African Indian Congress
~o the:Ho:lO~rable the Mmister of the InterIOr,
Pretoria.
SIr,-We, the undersigned, bemg Members of deputlttion
elected at- the Fifth SessIOn of the South AfrICan
Indian Congress assembled III Oonference at Cape Town
from the 9th to the 12th November, 1925, deSire to express
our sinncere thanks for grantlllg this interView.
~'The South ,Afncan Indian Congress, which IS constItuted
of electell rcpreKentatives of the various Provlllces
(if the UllIon BlttIDg III Conference as aforeilald p1ssed,
lIJDong others, the followlllg resJlutIOds -
1. That the South AfrIcan Indian Congress in Con­
Conference views with alarm the Areas ReservatIOn
aud ImmigratIOn and RegistratIOn (Further Provi510n)
Bill, whICh IS in violatIOn of the 1914
Gandhi-Smuts agreem~nt and ,vhlCh Bill has for
!ts obJe~t.s the compulsory segregaf,ion of Il)(itans;
the deprIVAtlOu of their propne',ary rights and the
ultimate eitmHlatIOll ol the Cornmnnity as openly
dedaloo by the Mllliste!' of the InterIor, and be~s
to submIt to the Government that on a matter of
prInCIple the Ind'an Community of South Afm .. a
opposes tbif BIll ~n toto.
2. That this Uongress urges upon the U Olon Government
to consent to a R~lln1 Table Conference of
the Union and Impenal GClvernlllent •. the representatives
of India, the Indian Govelllillent and repl'e£entatI,es
of the SOlltl> Afncan Indian Congress
to ~o 181de1' the whole !!lo5ltlon of th3 I ndlans h~re
and arrive at an honourable set~lement.
The tenor of the resolutions clem I) mdICiiltes that the
llillis not :wcejJtable to the Indlan commnnlty because
it is agnlos~ tundamental prmciples of goal cltizenshtp.
Consequenlly it ~~ felt that no good pnrpose could be
served by dlscllssmg It in detail while other gr~at dJificultles
eXist, whIch leqUIre a l]ustment, e.g, questIOns of
Licence~, ImmIgration, E incatIOn etc.
The Indian community are thoroughly dieatisfied as
the Bill undoubtedly lmposes upon them a stIgma of m­
feriority. Furl-her the Bill IS contrary to ihe -,plrit of
ue Gandhl-Smuts agreement.
If there l8 an earnest desire on the part of the U mon
Government to arrIve at a satI"ractory setLlement of the
general pOSItIOn affectlllg Indians 1U the U man, then we
feel that thiS could be best achieved bv a Ronnd Table
Conference III accordance with the suggestIOn contained
in the second Resolut.lOn.
Thls belU6' tte view of the C~n£"tC3S, we urge I(S
accrptance upon the Umon Government as a bona fide
desll'e on our part to diSCUSS genclally the wbole slluatIon,
aod brlOg about a thaI and honoura.ble se&tl,:ment.
The Congress IS not aware of any rpa,on why the
Umon Government has not formollly declmed Its llltention
to agree or (hsagr~e to th~ R mnd T d ble Conference
alLhou~h tv has Intimated tuat It ,,"a' III commuDlcatlOn
w th the Indlalil GQ)l'erBment 10 regard thereto; and that
matter.; hai Llk~n a defiat~e conroe.
The C(lllgress realise .. I he n!JC",ol~y there IS for arn\'-
109 at SJme satisfactory unders:anJwg on these vital
qnestlOno; and is preparld to do lls sh4re in !ecurin~ a
settlement consI~t"nt wleh honour.
We respectfully press upon the UDl~n Government our
sincere belwf in good result.s that a Round Table Conference
would bnng about; and trust that the Uni0n
Government Wlll accept anti accede -to the terms of
the second Resolution aforementioned, and in the meantime
stay further progre~, of this Bill.
We have the honour to be,
Sir,
Yours respt'ctfully,
J. \1'". GODFREY, E. M. ALLY, V,H,LEY MAIIFllED,
GOOLA~I RASOOL . .-\)(OD BAYAT, 8HAIK HntEn,
M. A. H. MOOSA, fl. M ~UR'lOO, S. H. ~\lDOO,
MOOLJEE G. PATEl" V. R. C. PATHER, S. EnRAHDI,
A. A. MIRZA, A. E. HlI.FFEJEE, 1\I. M. (1AXDIIl,
SORABJEE RUS'rOllJEI".
Me.nbeis of the Deput~tion of the 8.A .• I. Congr~ss.
A. I. KAJEE,
General Secr~tary,
175, Gtey Street, Durban.
We I'C6ret to announce the sad a.·mlse of ~Ir. Itosan
Kha'1 a prominent Inulan \ierchant at P. M. Burg.
who was one of the be~t workrs III the cause
of the Indian comm.llltv aDd Ins uutimely death
at thiS jun:ture IS very ugfortunate. Mr. Rosen Khan
was the Victim ot the ,,"rea: fire at P. M. Blll'g ou Tuesday
being very serIOusly burnel abollt the hand3 and
lower portion of the body and died late W' cdne3day
lllght, WI:' tender ollr eympilthy to the lelat.lves of
the late 1\11'. RosJu Khan.
F AR,lVI FOR SALE
650 Acres, House, Large Cowsbed~, Calf~he;lg, Stables etc_
20 Acres Planted to BANANAS'" Acres PINEAI'I'LKS
and PAWPAWS, 40 Acres SUGAR CAXE
100 Acres let out to INDIAN TENANTS
2 Permanent Stl eami! of Water. :Fenced Paddoc k
Good Labour Supply
Only fourteen mdes from DURBAN.
Four mlles from Ph